Chapter 165: Mengmeng, You’re Really Annoying

“Daddy, look! Pretty cannons.” Mengmeng was riding on Cao Shujie’s shoulders, one arm wrapped around his forehead, the other hand grabbing his hair, making him look to the east.

Cao Shujie noticed a shadow in front of his eyes and quickly said, “Mengmeng, be gentle, you’re almost poking my eye.”

This girl is hopeless!

After hearing her father’s shout, Mengmeng finally let go of his forehead and wrapped her arm around his neck instead. She then continued shouting with her little mouth, “Daddy, look at the pretty cannons, hurry up!”

Cao Shujie had no idea how she came up with that name. When he saw there was a row of stalls all selling fireworks, he called his wife over and walked to the stand together.

Once they reached the stall, he quickly corrected his daughter, “Mengmeng, these are called fireworks, not pretty cannons.”

“Oh, fireworks.” Mengmeng repeated the word several times, trying to remember the new name.

When Cheng Xiaolin saw the fireworks on the stall, she wanted to set some off too. Pointing at one of them, she asked, “Boss, how much for your Four Seasons Fortune?”

“This one? It can shoot four or five meters high, blooms beautifully. Only two left on the entire market. I’ll give you a deal, 25 each. If that works for you, take them,” said the boss, speaking as if he was giving them a huge bargain.

Hearing this, Cheng Xiaolin couldn’t even be bothered to haggle. She just tugged on her husband and moved on to the next stall.

When the fireworks vendor realized she was leaving, he anxiously called after her, “Miss, come back, I’ll give you a better price.”

“What’s your lowest price?” Cheng Xiaolin asked bluntly.

“Miss, how many do you want? If you’re buying several, I’ll give them to you for 20 each. I promise that’s the lowest price you’ll find today. Miss, what do you think?” the seller replied, addressing her as ‘miss’ again and again, sounding especially sincere.

But Cheng Xiaolin still just grabbed Cao Shujie and headed for the next fireworks stall.

Cao Shujie, seeing how decisive his wife was, asked, “Honey, what do you think is a good price?”

“Around 15 or so.” Cheng Xiaolin pointed in a direction ahead and said, “You were too busy playing with Mengmeng earlier to notice, but there’s another stall over there selling the exact same fireworks. They’re only 19 each, and if you buy in bulk they’ll drop to 16.”

“That last guy’s price was 6 yuan higher than theirs right off the bat. Why pay that extra money for nothing?” After finishing, Cheng Xiaolin pulled on her husband’s sleeve and kept walking without looking back.

No matter how much the previous vendor called out, she didn’t look back at all.

Cao Shujie complimented her, “Honey, you’re awesome!”

“Not too bad, right?” Cheng Xiaolin took the praise with a bright smile, but couldn’t resist teasing, “Unlike some people who, after getting here, only want to play and never pay attention or observe things. No wonder you’d get ripped off if you go shopping.”

Cao Shujie rubbed his nose awkwardly; it was obvious she was talking about him.

In all honesty, he admitted to himself that, had it been up to him earlier, he probably would’ve bought those fireworks at full price without bargaining.

The two of them walked deeper into the market together, and people grew thicker around them. Mengmeng was still perched atop her father’s shoulders, sitting high for a better view, occasionally pointing out a direction and calling for fireworks.

There was no way they weren’t going to buy some fireworks today; if they didn’t set some off tonight, Mengmeng definitely wouldn’t let it go.

When they arrived at another stall, Cheng Xiaolin again pointed at a firework similar to the Four Seasons Fortune from before and asked the stall owner how much it was.

“That one? 22 each. If you want a lot, I can give you a discount,” the vendor said.

As soon as he said that, Cheng Xiaolin looked back at her husband and threw him a glance that seemed to say: see, didn’t I tell you?

Cao Shujie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he watched Cheng Xiaolin begin haggling with the stall owner, bargaining the price down from 22 to 17 while the boss kept protesting, “Miss, at that price, I’m practically losing money to get business. Please, don’t let anyone else know, or I won’t be able to sell here anymore.”

Listening to him, Cao Shujie thought to himself that the guy was probably saying the opposite of the truth. The vendor would love for them to spread the word that his fireworks were such a good deal.

“Get rich, boss,” Cheng Xiaolin said as she bought ten on the spot. Seeing the smile on the boss’s face, Cao Shujie knew the vendor was still making a profit.

After loading the fireworks onto their small cart, they continued onward. As they walked, Cheng Xiaolin grew more and more uncomfortable—ten boxes of fireworks had already filled up their little cart, making it hard to carry anything else.

Plus, the fireworks were all big and square, taking up a lot of space. With so many people around, dragging their cart loaded with fireworks deeper into the market was nearly impossible.

Left with no choice, they found a shop by the roadside. Cao Shujie had his wife and daughter wait inside while he took the cart back to the car to drop off the fireworks. Once done, he brought the empty cart back and rejoined his wife and daughter to continue shopping.

Mengmeng found the whole scene lively and fun, but for Cao Shujie and Cheng Xiaolin, it was just inconvenient.

There were people everywhere, and all kinds of voices ringing in their ears. Though it certainly felt festive, buying things was a pain.

As they were walking, someone suddenly shouted, “Hey, Cao… Cao… Cao Shujie, is that you?”

Cao Shujie turned in the direction of the voice and realized someone was calling him from the northwest corner—a woman with fluffy hair about his age.

“And you are?” Cao Shujie looked at her, feeling she was familiar but unable to place her right away.

Cheng Xiaolin was standing beside him and saw the woman too. She was also wondering, “Who is this? What’s her connection to my husband?”

But upon seeing the expression on her husband’s face, Cheng Xiaolin lost interest in pursuing the answer further, feeling oddly relieved.

In the time it took to think all this, the woman had already crossed over to stand in front of Cao Shujie. Looking at him, she said, “Old classmate, don’t tell me you don’t recognize me? That would really break my heart.”

“Oh, you’re… you’re Shen Yun, right? The Cow-Nosed Daoist?” A nickname suddenly popped into Cao Shujie’s mind.

Shen Yun, her hair all fluffy, laughed and scolded when she heard the nickname, “So you still remember! I thought you’d forgotten. You and Shao Guoyang gave me that nickname back then. I was so mad I wanted to tell the teacher. Who gives a girl a nickname like that?”

Cao Shujie had totally forgotten why they’d called Shen Yun the Cow-Nosed Daoist, but he quickly introduced her to his wife, “Honey, this is my middle school classmate, Shen Yun.”

Then he introduced his wife to Shen Yun, “This is my wife, Cheng Xiaolin.”

“And this is my daughter, Mengmeng.”

After the introductions, Cheng Xiaolin and Shen Yun shook hands and exchanged a few words. Shen Yun then revealed, “Old classmate, you probably don’t know this—I married Shao Guoyang.”

Cao Shujie was speechless for a moment.

He couldn’t help but ask, “How did the two of you end up together?”

“Who told you two to give me that nickname? Later, after he finished technical school he went to work in the county chemical factory, and I worked at the factory next door. We ran into each other, remembered the nickname, and I was ready to give him a hard time…”

“Turns out, you didn’t rough him up, you got yourself caught instead,” Cao Shujie teased with a laugh.

Running into a middle school classmate, especially one with a bit of history, during a bustling market was pretty amusing to him.

He thought to himself, “If I hadn’t gone to Beijing and met you here, would I be in trouble?”

Cheng Xiaolin had clearly considered this as well.

Shen Yun had bought a roadside shop opposite them to open a deli. With crowds for the New Year, she needed to get back to mind the store.

After exchanging a few more words, Cao Shujie and his wife took Mengmeng and continued deeper into the market. As they walked, Cheng Xiaolin twisted his arm hard.

Cao Shujie grimaced in pain, breaking out in a cold sweat but not daring to cry out.

Seeing her husband’s reaction, Cheng Xiaolin couldn’t help but laugh.

“Shujie, I never expected you actually used to give girls nicknames.”

“Aren’t you kind of regretting not coming back sooner to work in your hometown? Maybe then you could’ve married your childhood sweetheart.”

Ignoring the crowd, Cao Shujie pulled her over and gave her a slap on the butt. “You’re impossible, always looking for a fight. I think you’re just asking for trouble.”

After that slap, Cheng Xiaolin immediately quieted down, covering her rear with one hand and glaring at her husband, this bastard who clearly had no ounce of pity.

She was just stewing in her frustration when she suddenly heard her husband swear, “Wife, I swear, I have absolutely nothing going on with her.”

But Cheng Xiaolin just raised her eyebrows and said, “I know. Didn’t your classmate just say she’s married to that guy? What else would you be thinking about?”

“Then why did you twist me?” Cao Shujie shot back.

Cheng Xiaolin huffed, “Well, you hit me! What do you say to that?”

Just as Cao Shujie was about to reply, Mengmeng, still sitting on his shoulders, suddenly called out, “Daddy, Mommy, if you two fight, I’m going to tell Grandmother.”

“What a little traitor!” Cao Shujie thought to himself.

He pretended not to hear and kept walking forward.

Cheng Xiaolin couldn’t help but smile when she saw the expression on her husband’s face.

With the fireworks in hand, they noticed an elderly man selling handwritten couplets, and Cao Shujie went over to buy quite a few. He planned to take them home and put them up.

After paying, as they were walking away, Cheng Xiaolin asked, “Why didn’t you buy the printed ones over there, honey? They look nicer.”

“Wife, just think, this old gentleman depends on this time of year to make a little money by writing spring couplets. Isn’t that right?” Cao Shujie replied to his wife.

Cheng Xiaolin fell silent, mulling it over.

When it came to Li Jiagen, Cao Shujie placed an order for fifty jin of beef and twenty jin of mutton all at once. He also arranged for half a pig, grain-fed, and asked about the current price of meat.

As expected, the prices of pork, beef, and mutton had all increased to varying degrees as the end of the year approached. The price increase for mutton was the smallest, pork came next, and beef had gone up the most.

Li Jiagen didn’t actually have that much meat available, nor could Cao Shujie carry so much at once, so he said, “Uncle Gen, when you have time, just deliver it to my house.”

After saying this, he added, “Uncle Gen, if you come by in the evening, I’ll treat you to a drink.”

Li Jiagen would have liked a drink, but he’d been very busy lately.

With the Spring Festival approaching, Li Jiagen had pigs, cows, and sheep to slaughter every day—so many that he felt sick of it. That wasn’t even an exaggeration.

What’s more, quite a few people would drag along their own pigs or sheep for him to slaughter.

The family depended on this busy season to make some extra money. No matter what, Li Jiagen wouldn’t touch alcohol at a time like this, for fear it might delay his work.

And if it weren’t for the size of Cao Shujie’s order, he wouldn’t bother with the hassle of home delivery.

He figured the time spent traveling back and forth could be better spent at home slaughtering more livestock and earning more money.

He said, “Little Cao, I haven’t been drinking lately. I’ll see if I can send it over tonight or tomorrow night. If I can’t make it, I’ll have your Brother Xinwu deliver it.”

With that, he called out to the young man nearby, “Xinwu, come over and meet your Brother Jie.”

“Brother Jie,” the young man, Li Xinwu, greeted quietly.

Cao Shujie acknowledged him.

Li Jiagen spoke sternly, “Xinwu, didn’t you have enough lunch, or what? You can’t even speak up?”

“Brother Jie!” This time, Li Xinwu called out loudly.

“Hey, Xinwu, is it your winter break now?” Cao Shujie asked.

“Yes, we’re on winter break,” Li Xinwu answered.

He didn’t seem very talkative, or maybe just wasn’t used to chatting with strangers. After saying hello to Cao Shujie, he busied himself elsewhere.

Cao Shujie didn’t mind. He took out five one-hundred yuan notes and handed them to Li Jiagen. “Uncle Gen, here’s a deposit of five hundred yuan, take it first. After you tally everything up, just send me a message, and I’ll pay the remainder.”

Li Jiagen accepted the money without any fuss, slipping it straight into his waistband.

When things were settled, Li Jiagen reached for a banana to give to Mengmeng, but Cao Shujie stopped him. “Uncle Gen, you go ahead and keep working. We’re going to buy a few more things.”

In the depths of winter, any kind of fruit felt cold going down.

“Alright, you go on.” Li Jiagen waved them off. Watching as Cao Shujie and his family of three walked away, he hurried to greet other customers.

As Cao Shujie’s family disappeared into the distance, the owner of a nearby meat stall asked admiringly, “Old Li, you’re something else. I see him buying from you time and again, and he never gets just a little.”

“Oh, I know his dad. Old Liu, you know his dad, too,” Li Jiagen replied.

“Who?” Liu Changgen was momentarily stumped.

Then Li Jiagen explained, “Cao Jianguo, remember Brother Jianguo? The one who used to sell kiwi fruit and apples right by us. Did you forget?”

“Don’t forget, you ate quite a few of his kiwi fruits,” Li Jiagen teased.

That jogged Liu Changgen’s memory, and he nodded quickly. “You’re right, come to think of it he really does look like Brother Jianguo.”

“Exactly. I just got lucky. When Brother Jianguo’s eldest son came here the first time, he bought meat from me. Before long, we got to know each other, and now he doesn’t buy from anyone else,” Li Jiagen said.

No matter how he heard it, Liu Changgen felt Li Jiagen was bragging.

……

Cao Shujie and Cheng Xiaolin, with Mengmeng in tow, continued forward, planning to buy some vegetables and seafood. Cheng Xiaolin asked, “Honey, why did you buy so much meat?”

“Some is for our parents, some for Brother Chao, and a portion to send over to my uncle. The rest we’ll make into braised pork, meatballs, and dumplings. It’s New Year, so it’s all for fun and happiness,” Cao Shujie said with a cheerful grin.

After hearing him out, Cheng Xiaolin nodded. “That’s true. It looks like a lot, but once you split it up, there isn’t much left.”

“Isn’t that right. Later, let’s buy more shrimp and some sea fish—the less bony kind—for Grandfather and Mengmeng. What else did we need?”

Cao Shujie couldn’t quite recall.

Mengmeng piped up, “Daddy’s so silly. Vegetables!”

Cao Shujie smacked his own forehead. “Right, right, how did I forget again? Mengmeng is the clever one.”

Praised like that, Mengmeng laughed happily—showing off a little too much, so that she almost slipped off her father’s shoulders. Luckily, Cao Shujie held onto her legs, keeping her safe.

Even so, Mengmeng was startled and didn’t dare act up anymore.

As the year drew to an end, many people working outside had come back.

When Cao Shujie and his family went to buy vegetables at the market, they ran into three separate groups of classmates.

Two of them had brought their whole families along to shop for groceries and supplies for the New Year.

There were others who’d come home from out of town, and simply found life at home too dull, so they came to the market for some fun.

As they strolled around the market shopping, time passed unnoticed, and it was already after lunchtime. Mengmeng, hungry, kept clutching her stomach and shouting.

Cao Shujie and his wife, Cheng Xiaolin, were hungry too, so they took their time walking until they came upon a vendor selling mutton soup at the market. The savory scent wafted by, and the whole family headed right over.

Cheng Xiaolin went to a nearby stand selling big steamed buns and bought eight pure pork buns. Together, it made for a hearty and delicious lunch.

The fresh taste of mutton offal and meat was evident in the soup, and since countryside prices were lower and the portions bigger, they ate their fill.

“Mama, can I have another bun?” Having finished her pork bun, Mengmeng pointed at the big steamed buns on the table, asking Cheng Xiaolin for more.

“You sure can eat—a bigger appetite than mine,” Cheng Xiaolin teased her.

Mengmeng looked up and rolled her eyes at her mother, then immediately lowered her head and continued eating the mutton and stuffing buns into her mouth.

Her expression seemed to say, “You’re not even worth my commenting on.”

Cao Shujie couldn’t hold back his laughter when he saw his daughter acting like such a little adult, and burst out laughing on the spot.

Cheng Xiaolin glared at him until he quickly looked down and started eating.

After finishing lunch, Cao Shujie took his wife and daughter for another stroll, picking up anything else they needed along the way.

They shopped and played until past three in the afternoon before heading back to the parking area to return home.

On the drive back, Mengmeng kept saying, “Daddy, Mommy, let’s set off the fireworks when we get home.”

“Fireworks don’t look good during the daytime. Let’s wait until evening and set them off in the orchard, okay?” Cheng Xiaolin suggested.

Mengmeng scratched her head in doubt, suspecting her mother was trying to trick her.

Cao Shujie chimed in, “Fireworks only look good at night. If we set them off now, you won’t see the pretty flowers in the sky. Tonight, Daddy will take you.”

“Let’s set them all off tonight and buy more in a couple of days,” Cao Shujie declared, feeling rather proud.

Mengmeng was thrilled. “Yes, Daddy, yes!”

Back in Cao Family Village, Mengmeng was still talking about the fireworks as she got out of the car.

Cao Shujie glanced at his wife and thought to himself, “Wife, you really raise such a good daughter.”

(This chapter ends)

— Translator’s Notes —

• Get rich, boss: A common and auspicious phrase (‘Lǎobǎn fācái’) said to a business owner, wishing them prosperity. It is especially common during the New Year period.

• Cow-Nosed Daoist: In Chinese, ‘Niúbízi Lǎodào’ (lit. ‘cow-nosed old Daoist’) is a common, somewhat derogatory slang term for a Daoist priest. Applying it as a nickname to a young girl was particularly insulting.